How Much Do Violin Lessons Cost?

The Complete Guide to Violin Lesson Pricing

Marc Levesque   12/29/20 updated 1/18/23 • 4 min read

The Average Violin Lesson Cost:

Violin lessons typically cost between $60-$100 per hour, but costs can vary widely depending on the instructor’s education and performing level, years of teaching, the location, lesson length and whether lessons are in-person or online.

The average price for a one-hour violin lesson is $70. Online violin lessons using Zoom or Skype charge between $20-40 for a half hour lesson. Local private one-on-one violin lessons range from $35-50 for a half hour lesson, while in-person group lessons can cost $25 for a half hour lesson.

Violin teachers without a music degree will charge as little as $35 an hour, and professional violinists with numerous competition awards might charge as much as $350! 

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What Determines Violin Lesson Costs?

Violin Teacher Level

Do you want your potential instructor to have a music degree or not? Violin teachers without music degrees tend to charge between $35-$40 per hour but they don’t offer professional level instruction.

Instructors who have a music degree that isn’t violin related, such as ones with a Bachelor’s in cello or viola who have some violin skills, will often charge $35-$50 per hour. They generally have a solid understanding of music, but they don’t have advanced violin performing abilities and deep understanding of the instrument itself, and are very limited in giving practical instruction. This increases the risk that they will teach beginners bad habits that will be harmful and ineffective over time.

Top violin instructors will have at least a Bachelor’s degree in violin. Lessons with those teachers range from $40-$90 on average, with teachers with a Master’s or Doctorate in violin typically charging $70-$100 per hour.

It might seem like these violin teachers are only for advanced students, but it is best for beginners to learn violin the correct way from the beginning, so it’s important to have a teacher who knows how to take you smoothly from a beginning to an advanced level without building any bad habits.

The sooner you have a professional violin instructor, the sooner you will make real progress that sets you up for future advancement.

Online vs In-person Lessons

Online violin lessons are generally the most affordable, with an average increase of about $10 for in-person lessons at a teacher’s studio or home, and a small additional increase to have the teacher visit your home, usually around $10.

In-person violin lesson prices can vary widely though depending on the number of qualified teachers in your area. In order to find highly-qualified teachers at reasonable prices, online lessons will be your best bet.

Live vs Pre-recorded Lessons

If you’re looking for the cheapest possible violin lessons, there is the option of pre-recorded lessons. These are typically video or app-based lessons that aim to teach you basic violin abilities for a monthly fee. 

Unfortunately, the lessons cannot compare to the quality of live one-on-one lessons where the teacher can customize the material for you, give you live feedback on your playing in real time, and help you become better at practicing and performing. 

Any student who is interested in becoming a capable and skilled violinist is better off looking for live one-on-one lessons, such as the $35 half hour lessons offered through Lesson With You.

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How to Find the Most Affordable Violin Lessons

We surveyed over 100 violin teachers across our own site, Lesson With You, and two other major sites, Takelessons.com and Thumbtack.com, using a random zip code as the location. We specifically looked for teachers who have a degree in violin and teach lessons online.

Lesson With You has a set price of $65 per hour and indeed the value is better than any other site we have found. Each violin teacher at Lesson With You has a degree in violin, including schools such as Yale and Indiana University but the lessons are only $65 per hour, making the live online violin lessons an incredible value.

Thumbtack had the highest average price among qualified violin teachers, at $70 per hour. Even finding a teacher who didn’t major in violin, such as one with a flute or piano degree, did not do much to lower the price. Sorting through the options, it quickly became apparent that many of the top teachers did not have formal education in music, and even those who had a music degree often did not have it for violin, despite charging high prices for music lessons.

Takelessons has a lower average price, at $66 among the teachers we surveyed. But like Thumbtack, many of the violin teachers listed either did not have a music degree or did not major in violin. Takelessons and Thumbtack both have a very large number of teachers, so surely there are some good deals, but finding teachers who’s education and prices matched that of the teachers at Lesson With You is difficult and time consuming.

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About the author

Marc Levesque is a graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where he studied Piano Performance and Arts Administration, receiving both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees before attending Carnegie Mellon University to study educational technology. As a pianist, Marc made his debut with the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra at age 15, playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2., and he has performed at various summer programs and festivals across the United States, Italy, and Croatia. Marc is a co-founder of Lesson With You, which fully combines his love of music, technology, and education.